Nostril dilators are commonly used by people suffering from colds in order to improve breathing. The nostril dilators are used to open breathing passages even when there is mucus build up within the nose. Wearers have found that nostril dilators are particularly useful during sleep and can prevent snoring caused by partial nostril blockage.
Athletes use nostril dilators to enhance their performance. Nostril dilators allow the athlete to take increased volumes of oxygen through the nose. The increased oxygen intake improves the athlete's stamina.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,292,083, issued to Sawyer ("Sawyer"), discloses a nose expander or nostril dilator consisting of a resilient brace. The resilient brace has opposing ends. Each end is provided with a hooklet. Disk-shaped cushions which are provided with an adhesive layer for adhesion to the nostrils can be attached to the hooklets. In use, the resilient brace is flexed and positioned over the bridge of the nose, and the disk-shaped cushions are applied to each nostril. The tendency of the resilient brace to return to its pre-flexed shape results in outwardly directed forces applied perpendicularly to the nostrils via the cushions, whereby the nostrils are flared.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,950,839, issued to Chirila ("Chirila"), also discloses a nostril dilator. This nostril dilator also comprises a brace having spring-loaded suction cups mounted on opposing ends. The nostril dilator of Chirila functions in essentially the same manner as the nostril dilator of Sawyer.
More recently, nostril dilators have been disclosed in international patent applications WO 92/22340, WO 94/23775 and WO 96/01093 and the German Utility Model 94.11494. These nostril dilators include a plaster having a flat, relatively stiff strip of elastically flexible material within the plaster. In principle, these nostril dilators function in the same manner as Sawyer and Chirila. The flat, relatively stiff strip of elastically flexible material is flexed over the bridge of the nose. End areas are adhered to either nostril. The nostrils are pulled open by the restoring forces present in the flat, relatively stiff strip of elastically flexible material.
While the above-referenced nose dilators improve breathing, the human nose is a sensitive organ, and these nose dilators apply forces on the nose which are often uncomfortable to the user. These nostril dilators rely on a rather stiff and rigid bendable member. In particular, when this member is touched during sleep or touched unintentionally during the day, they can exert irritating forces on the nose of the user.
The present invention is designed to overcome this problem while maintaining the improvement in breathing.